Henry Pym
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Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym is a fictional character in the Marvel Universe, a founding member of the superhero group The Avengers. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, he first appeared in Tales to Astonish #27 (January 1962).
A chemist, biologist and inventor of artificial intelligence, Pym is one of the most brilliant human scientists in the "Marvel universe." He is the creator of "Pym particles," a substance that allowed him and his assistant and later girlfriend and wife the Wasp to shrink to minute sizes. Later alterations to the particles allowed Pym to increase his size as well.
Originally called Ant-Man, Pym’s adventures with the Wasp were featured in Tales to Astonish until The Avengers became the primary platform for their careers. Both as a superhero and as a scientist has been invaluable to the team, but a long-nursed inferiority complex and a bout of mental illness had caused problems for the team and made Pym abusive towards loved ones before he was able to deal with and move past those issues.
In addition to Ant-Man, Pym has several different costumed identities over the years, including Goliath, Giant-Man and his current moniker Yellowjacket. Several related or semi-related characters have taken Pym’s previous identities (See: successors). During his time with the West Coast Avengers, Pym made a decision to give up adventuring under a costumed identity and instead fought with the team as "Doctor Pym", an inventor/scientist who made use of Pym particles to shrink a variety of tecnological gadgets and weaponry stored in the pockets of his red jumpsuit.
Pym was featured in both animated adaptations of the Avengers: as Ant-Man in the series Avengers: United They Stand and as Giant-Man in the direct-to-video film Ultimate Avengers. A live action Ant-Man film is scheduled for 2008.
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[edit] Fictional character biography
At one point, Henry Pym was married to a Hungarian called Maria Trovaya. Sadly, their marriage was cut short when Maria was killed by Hungarian Secret Police. Shortly after that, biochemist Hank Pym discovered what he called Pym particles, a rare group of subatomic particles from which he formulated a size-altering formula. Testing the solution on himself, he found they were far more powerful than he hypothesized—one type of these particles had the power to make things shrink and the other to restore an object to its natural size. He was shrunk down to the size of an insect and narrowly escaped the inhabitants of an anthill. He then restored himself. After he undertook an exhaustive study of ants, he later constructed a "cyber-helmet" that would let him communicate with and control insects. He designed a costume and gave himself the superhero name Ant-Man. On his first outing as Ant-Man, he defeated some KGB agents that were trying to steal some anti-radiation gas that Pym had made. He started a career as Ant-Man and fought many supervillains and monsters.
Later, Pym was contacted by Dr. Vernon Van Dyne, who asked for Pym's help in contacting aliens. He refused, but became attracted to Vernon's daughter, Janet Van Dyne. Vernon Van Dyne was later slain by an alien outlaw. Janet asked for Hank's help to avenge his death. Pym then revealed his secret identity to her. Hank used some Pym particles on her and grafted wasp wings beneath her shoulders (but they disappeared when she was normal size and came back again when using Pym particles). Janet assumed the name of The Wasp. They tracked down and defeated Vernon's killer, thus forming a permanent partnership and starting a relationship, before becoming founding members of the Avengers. Shortly afterward, he developed a variant Pym particle that could increase his size; using these, he became Giant-Man and later Goliath.
However, Pym suffered a series of mental problems. Shortly before his wedding, he had a breakdown during which he became amnesiac and developed the cocky "Yellowjacket" persona, which he speculated was the result of his subconscious desire to remove the inhibitions that kept him from proposing to Janet; he only fully recovered after his wedding to Janet. Almost immediately prior to that incident, he had created an android called Ultron, which, to his horror, became self-aware and evil, and plotted to kill and replace him and the rest of humanity with robots. The extent of his guilt involved in Ultron's creation was not revealed until years later, when he admitted that Ultron's brain patterns were in fact based on his own, and thus he felt that Ultron reflected the darkest part of his personality.
Several years later, Pym had a complete breakdown, and became extremely paranoid. During the course of this breakdown, he became overbearing and verbally abusive towards Janet. At the nadir of this degeneration, he struck her, and then proceeded to concoct a plan to make himself look good in front of his teammates by staging an attack upon them which only he could stop. This plan backfired and Pym was exposed, disgraced, and expelled from the Avengers, and the couple divorced.
Later it was revealed that his erratic behavior had been sparked as part of a plan from supervillain Egghead (who at the time was presumed dead) to ruin Pym's reputation and cajoling him into stealing the national reserve of adamantium. The plan went into effect and Pym was eventually captured and blamed for the theft while Egghead escaped; blaming the whole thing on a reputedly-dead villain was initially taken as further proof of Pym's madness and was only through the sheer effort and determination of the bow-wielding Hawkeye (whose brother was killed by Egghead) that the real perpetrator was exposed and Pym cleared of charges. (Egghead died when pulling the trigger of a laser gun in which Hawkeye had just shot one of his arrows).
After Pym's mental state returned to normal he rejoined the Avengers, first in an advisory role for the West Coast Avengers, ultimately joining the West coast team officially as "Dr. Pym", and later rejoining the East Coast team as Giant-Man. After the events of "[[Kang Dynasty]]", where Pym's various personailities were integrated and he made peace with his past problems, Pym re-adopted his Yellowjacket costume, to put the past behind him and acknowledge his healed psyche. (He had previously stated that he would never again adopt this, his most famous costumed identity, as that was the identity he used at the time he struck Jan.) After a time, he and the Wasp became friends again and, some years later, resumed a romantic relationship. In the events detailed in the "Avengers Finale", Pym and Janet left the team to re-kindle their relationship in England, where Pym had accepted a residency at Oxford.
[edit] Civil War and Beyond!
Both Pym and the Wasp have reappeared in the Civil War cross-over. Pym, in his Yellowjacket persona, has sided with Iron Man, believing that superheroes should register with the government and be held responsible for their actions. His inferiority complex may have played a role in this decision; when Captain America came to enlist him in fighting against the Act, Pym said he was surprised that Captain America had come to him at all, let alone to be one of the first.
Pym took part in the battle at Geffen Meyers Chemical Plant, and expressed horror when a Thor clone, created by Pym, Reed Richards and Tony Stark, killed Goliath in battle. He is wracked with grief, calling Goliath one of his best friends and expressing his anger at Richards for allowing this to happen. Pym appears to be having doubts as to whether he has chosen the right side.
Both Wasp and Pym are also present in the limited series Beyond!. He mentions that the Wasp is still his ex-wife, and does not wear the Yellowjacket costume. Instead he is once again going by the name "Dr. Pym" in this series and wears a jumpsuit similar to the one from his West Coast Avengers days, however with the same yellow/black coloring of the Yellowjacket costume. In another tie to his WCA "Dr. Pym" days, he once again carries with him an arsenal of shrunken equipment, including an Avengers Quinjet that he claims he "forgot" to return to Tony Stark after the team disbanded. The dialogue in the third issue of the series implies that Pym and Van Dyne have called off their most recent attempt at a romantic reconciliation.
[edit] Powers and abilities
Dr. Hank Pym is a scientific genius of the highest order with expertise in both the fields of robotics/cybernetics and biochemistry. During his career, he has created the robot Ultron, often repaired Vision, and invented much of the Avengers' equipment. The robot Rover, another of his creations, served as a jet, possessing rudimentary artificial intelligence and offensive capabilities.
His greatest scientific achievement, "Pym particles", led to several costumed identities. Pym particles enable mass to be shunted or gained from an alternate dimension. By imbibing special capsules of Pym particles, Pym was able to shrink to half-inch size and adventure as the Ant-Man and, later, to grow to 30-foot size and adventure as Giant-Man and Goliath. He later switched from using capsules to a Pym particle-filled gas, but eventually his body had absorbed enough particles to shrink and grow at will. As Yellowjacket, Pym used his shrinking ability along with a bio-energy gun (used incorporated into blasting gauntlets.) In his insect guises, Pym also used a communication device in his helmet that allowed him to communicate and control insect life (mostly ants.) At one point, Pym found himself able to use the Pym particle field about his body to shrink and grow objects in contact with him, and he carried various high and low tech equipment in his jumpsuit. Currently, he can only shrink and grow objects that have been specially-treated with Pym particles beforehand. As Hank's abilities have fluctuated between growth and size reduction, he has remained an intellectual at heart. [1]
[edit] Successors
A number of other superheroes (and a few supervillains) have used Dr. Pym's rejected costumes and codenames; they are listed here in chronological order of first appearances.
[edit] Clint Barton
- Main article: Hawkeye (comics)
Clint Barton is better known as the superhero Hawkeye; he adopted the Goliath powers and identity in The Avengers #63 (April 1969), shortly after Pym became Yellowjacket. He remained Goliath through the Kree-Skrull War, and briefly resumed using the name during "Operation: Galactic Storm".
[edit] Bill Foster
- Main Article: Bill Foster
Dr. Bill Foster was Pym's lab assistant, an African American who used the Giant-Man identity briefly. He had an equally brief career as the Black Goliath and Giant Man before retiring from superheroics.
Recently, Bill Foster came out of retirement, donning a new costume and becoming known as simply Goliath. He has recenly seen in the Civil War mini series, siding with Captain America's faction of outlaw Anti-Registration heroes. Foster was killed in Civil War #4 by a Thor clone engineered by Pym, Tony Stark, and Reed Richards.
[edit] Scott Lang
Scott Lang was a thief who was reformed with the aid of Pym and Iron Man. After a fairly lengthy, if not especially noteworthy, career as the second Ant-Man, he became an affiliate of the Fantastic Four and most recently became a full-time member of the Avengers. For a period of time he dated Jessica Jones. He was killed in Avengers #500, but his daughter, Cassie, has taken up his heroic mantle as Stature in the pages of Young Avengers.
[edit] Erik Josten
Erik Josten was originally known as the supervillain Power Man. After being soundly defeated by Luke Cage – who was also calling himself Power Man at the time – he changed his codename to the Smuggler, and later to Goliath. He adopted the superheroic identity of Atlas upon joining the Thunderbolts.
[edit] Rita DeMara
Rita DeMara was introduced in Avengers #264 as a villainess. She went on to become a member of two versions of the Masters of Evil, a temporary Avenger, and a Guardian of the Galaxy.
[edit] Eric O'Grady
Eric O'Grady is the new "hero" to take up the title of Ant-Man. He is a low level S.H.I.E.L.D agent who happens to come across Hank Pym's new Ant-Man suit. He uses this new suit to help himself instead of helping mankind, such as asking for a date after saving a woman from a mugging.
[edit] Other versions
[edit] MC2
Hank and Janet would end up giving birth to two children: Hope Pym/Red Queen and Henry Pym Jr./Big Man. Giant-Man would later perish on the last mission of The Original Avengers, with The Wasp dying of a broken heart. Their parents' death motivates Red Queen to form The Revengers. Big Man, a one time member, however, joins a government reform team.
[edit] Ultimate Henry Pym
In the Ultimate Marvel continuity, Henry "Hank" Pym is a brilliant, but mentally fragile scientist who takes Prozac and is married to Janet Pym, née van Dyne. He was chosen to work on the "Super Soldier Project" for S.H.I.E.L.D. under Nick Fury. Hank is also the superhero "Giant-Man", able to grow to 59 feet and 11 inches (60 feet being the point where the human body cannot support its own mass). He gained his powers after experimenting on the blood of his wife Jan, who is a mutant.
In this continuity, he was prone to domestic violence, likely a spin off of a storyline in Marvel 616. He had been attempting to change, going on a medication, and Jan believed that joining the Ultimates could be a new start for them. But later the tensions of losing and humiliating himself in a battle with the Hulk, and his jealousy of Jan's "friendship" with Captain America, led into a heated argument between the couple that ended after they had a violent fight, and Janet was hospitalized. Captain America himself took revenge, beat him to a pulp despite the fact that Pym engaged his giant size against him, and forced him out of the team.
He was eventually allowed back into the Triskelion, but not as a member of the Ultimates, but rather he served with the staff and acted as a shrink for inmates, including Norman Osborn, Otto Octavius, Maxwell Dillon, Flint Marko and Sergei Kravinoff.
Henry seemed to have overcome his violent streak and was desperate to get in the Ultimates again, becoming the ant-manipulator "Ant-Man" and building two prototype androids, Ultron and Vision II. Despite this, he remained a pariah, becoming increasingly depressed as S.H.I.E.L.D. debuted an entire team of Giant-Men who were capable of breaking the 60-foot "limit" that he had been unable to overcome. Desperate, he joined the vigilante team Defenders, starting a meaningless affair with Valkyrie and making a laughingstock of himself.
In spite of his sad descent, he has been able to relate to his estranged wife Jan again, and the two are starting to see each other again (their relationship has been platonic so far). On a side note, he was visited by the traitor within the Ultimates—an object of great fan speculation, as of 2005—but seems too much in a funk to seriously care (It was revealed in Ultimates 2 #9 that the traitor was Ultimate Black Widow). In recently published materials, it has been revealed that Pym is building an army of Ultrons for the invading Coalition. Hank Pym, keeps the American populace in line using the Ultron robots he created, not knowing how full scale the attack would be.
As the tide of the battle starts to turn to the Ultimates favor, Hank orders the Ultron robots to help The Ultimates and they start taking out The Liberators armed guards. He swears to Quicksilver that he planned on infiltrating The Liberators from the start. Although he appears to be lying, at some point earlier he did give the Wasp a growth serum. Interestingly, when she uses it, she grows taller than Giant-Man ever did, to about the same size as the Giant-Men that replaced Hank. Apparently Pym finally cracked the 60-foot limit that plagued him earlier in the series.
[edit] Appearances in other media
[edit] Television
- Henry Pym was featured regularly in the short-lived The Avengers: United They Stand cartoon, voiced by Rod Wilson.
- Henry Pym was featured in Fantastic Four: World's Greatest Heroes as Ant-Man where he helps them get back to normal size after an accident.
[edit] Films
- He was also a major character in the animated features Ultimate Avengers and Ultimate Avengers 2, based on the Ultimates rendition of the character. He was voiced by Nolan North.
- A live-action feature film entitled, Ant-Man, is to be directed by Edgar Wright for a scheduled 2008 release. Wright has stated that the film will include both Pym, as a 60's era Ant-Man, and Scott Lang as Pym's successor in contemporary times.
[edit] Video game
- Hank Pym appears in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance as a support character who gives advice and helps with some side puzzles.
[edit] References
- Tales to Astonish (as Henry Pym) #27 (Marvel Comics, January 1962)
- Tales to Astonish (as Ant-Man) #35-49 (Marvel Comics, September 1962 - November 1963)
- Tales to Astonish (as Giant-Man) #49-69 (Marvel Comics, November 1963 - July 1965)
- Ant-Man's Big Christmas #1 (2001)
- Essential Ant-Man (black-and-white trade paperback) (2002)
[edit] External links
- MDP: Henry Pym - Marvel Database Project
- Ant-Man on the Marvel Universe Character Bio Wiki
Categories: 1962 introductions | Fictional Americans in Marvel Comics | Fictional atheists | Fictional geniuses | Fictional characters with the power to change their size | Fictional scientists | Ultimates members | Marvel Comics mutates | Marvel Comics characters with superhuman strength | Marvel Comics characters who can fly
